


Mrs. Fairfax's Secret

by m_lent



Category: Jane Eyre - Charlotte Brontë
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-29
Updated: 2016-04-29
Packaged: 2018-06-05 08:19:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,440
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6697117
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/m_lent/pseuds/m_lent





	Mrs. Fairfax's Secret

Starts right after Chapter 26  
Jane has just found out that Mr. Rochester is married, and has just met Bertha. After meeting Bertha, Jane locks herself in her room and contemplates rather she should leave Thornfield or not. After a while of thinking, Jane makes the decision to leave Thornfield without telling Mr. Rochester. After leaving Thornfield, Jane travels on foot for three days without food and water, she then arrives at a little cottage hidden back in the woods. Upon arriving she knocks on the door and two young ladies, Mary and Diana, answer the door. Diana noticed the state that Jane was in, so Mary went and fetched some food and water. Jane was so hungry and thirsty that she woofed down her food in five seconds flat. When Jane finished eating, she tells the girls that she needs a place to stay and the ladies are thrilled to help out.  
Realizing that Jane has left Thornfield in the middle of the night, Mr. Rochester slowly fell into a depression. Mr. Rochester stopped talking to anyone in the house. Day after day he would just sleep and then spend the rest of the day in the drawing room staring into space. This caused him to not monitor Bertha as closely. One-night Bertha, having been fed up with the way Mr. Rochester has treated her in the years past, stole the keys from Grace Poole, who was passed out drunk. Bertha, thinking this might be her only chance to escape Thornfield once and for all, started creeping toward the front door. She was almost to the door, the only room she had to pass was the drawing room. As she passed, she just happened to look in and what does she see? Mr. Rochester pass out drunk sitting in his favorite chair. A lot of things started running through Bertha’s mind at that moment, but one thing was for sure; she did not want to live like a prisoner anymore and there was only one way to fix that. To kill Mr. Rochester. Bertha was scared that if Mr. Rochester discovered that she had ran away, he would have sent a search party out after her and being her back to this Hell hole to rot. Noticing his whiskey right beside him, she thought fast on her toes. She remembered seeing some poison in the far back of the cupboard that Mr. Rochester bought a long time ago. She secretly knew the poison was for her if she became to much for Grace Poole or Mr. Rochester to handle. After grabbing the poison, she tip toed back to the drawing room. As she approached Mr. Rochester, he became a little restless and started moving. This scared Bertha because she didn’t know how she was going to explain why she was there. Mr. Rochester opened his eyes and looked right at Bertha. He spoke to her, “Bertha?” Bertha had to think quick. She replied, “Yes it is me. Everything is going to be okay, you were just having a bad dream. Here let me fix you a drink to help you get back to sleep.” She picked up his glass and walked over to the table to fill it up. As she filled it up, she pouring all of the poison into the glass. Bertha hands the glass back to Mr. Rochester and he turns it up and drinks every last sip. After he finishes his drink, Bertha runs full speed out of the house because she wants to put as much distance as she can between herself and Thornfield.  
By this time, Jane has been at Mary and Diana’s for about two weeks. Jane has enjoyed the calm environment, not having to answer to anyone. She has helped with the cooking and cleaning. This vacation has also given her time to clear her head and draw about nature or reflect on how time away from Thornfield has done her good. At times during the two weeks, she has often thought of Mr. Thornfield but only thought it natural since she did about marry him. At the beginning of the third week at Mary and Diana’s, Jane has a strange dream. In the dream someone, who she doesn’t know, tells her things are Thornfield are very wrong. Something bad has happened to Mr. Rochester and she needs to come back straight away. The next morning, she tells Mary and Diana about the dream she had just had. The girls sit down at the kitchen table about talk about it for a while. They finally arrived upon a decision, Jane should leave for Thornfield right away so she can see that everything is okay and put her mind at ease.  
All the while that Jane was at Mary and Diana’s, Mrs. Fairfax and Grace Poole were the only ones to know that Mr. Rochester was killed. They took it upon themselves to bury Mr. Rochester and not make a big fuss about it. To be honest neither one of them liked him very much. Mrs. Fairfax and Grace Poole had another secret that only them and Mr. Rochester knew about. Mr. Rochester had a twin brother named Matthew who lived in Germany. Mrs. Fairfax didn’t want people to start talking if they realized something happened to Mr. Rochester. At once Mrs. Fairfax sent a letter to Matthew saying that Mr. Rochester has mysteriously disappeared and that he needs to get here as fast as he can to start leaning all there is to know about being Mr. Rochester. Matthew being the youngest out of three didn’t inherit any money, so he had to live off the land and get whatever job he could.  
Matthew arrived later that week, not at all phased that his brother has “disappeared.” Mrs. Fairfax, Grace Poole and Matthew spent countless hours day in and day out the following week to make sure Matthew was exactly like his brother, Mr. Rochester. They could not afford for anyone to get suspicious. Mrs. Fairfax even taught him about Jane and how their relationship was, on the off chance that Jane would happen to stop by. Little did Mrs. Fairfax know, her plan was about to be put into action the very next day.  
Matthew woke up the next morning and decided to do some yard work because the front of the house looked run down since Mr. Rochester let things go while in his depression. While working in the yard, Jane comes walking up the walkway. Jane breathed a big sigh of relief when she saw “Mr. Rochester” working in the yard. Jane walked up to Matthew and they started taking like no time at all has passed. “Mr. Rochester” apologized for not mentioning Bertha before asking her to marry him. He then told her that Bertha has ran away and disappeared and he has not idea where she is. “Mr. Rochester” secretly hopes that Jane will forgive him and they can marry like they were suppose to do. “Mr. Rochester” and Jane talked for the rest of the day, and not once did Jane bring up the topic of their almost marriage. “Mr. Rochester” couldn’t take it anymore and finally asked her what the future might hold for them. Jane is still not ready to trust him again after keeping such a big secret. Jane tells him that if he continues to be faithful and honest to her, then there is a good possibility that they can rebuild their relationship and have a future together. Matthew confides everything to Mrs. Fairfax and Grace Poole to make sure he is still acting like Mr. Rochester so Jane doesn’t suspect a thing. Mrs. Fairfax is thrilled that her planned is working.  
Over the next couple of months, “Mr. Rochester” and Jane continue to get to know each other but this time without any secrets, except for the fact that Matthew is Mr. Rochester’s twin brother. Jane senses that something is not quite right with “Mr. Rochester” like he has changed, but doesn’t want to say anything because she is actually happy with the way things are going. After those couple of months, “Mr. Rochester” decides that he wants to propose to Jane again. They walk to the tree where the real Mr. Rochester proposed first. “Mr. Rochester” says, “Jane, I have grown fond of you all over again and would like to marry you. However, I do not want any secrets between us. With that being said there is something I have to tell you. While you were away, Mr. Rochester disappear mysteriously. I am Matthew Rochester, his twin brother.”


End file.
